Italian Americans
This article may be readable prose size was 21,400 words. . (January 2024) |
Italo-americani (Italian) | |
---|---|
Total population | |
17,767,630 (5.3%) alone or in combination 5,953,262 (1.8%) Italian alone Italian Colombians, Italian Costa Ricans, Italian Cubans, Italian Dominicans, Italian Ecuadorians, Italian Guatemalans, Italian Haitians, Italian Hondurans, Italian Mexicans, Italian Panamanians, Italian Paraguayans, Italian Peruvians, Italian Puerto Ricans, Italian Salvadorans, Italian Uruguayans, Italian Venezuelans, Italian Australians, Italian South Africans, Italian Britons, Italian New Zealanders, Sicilian Americans, Corsican Americans, Corsican Puerto Ricans, Maltese Americans, Sammarinese Americans and other Italians |
Italian Americans (
Between 1820 and 2004, approximately 5.5 million Italians migrated to the United States during the Italian diaspora, in several distinct waves, with the greatest number arriving in the 20th century from Southern Italy. Initially, many Italians (usually single men), so-called "birds of passage", sent remittance back to their families in Italy and, eventually, returned to Italy.
Immigration began to increase during the 1880s, when more than twice as many Italians immigrated than had in the five previous decades combined.[11][12] Continuing from 1880 to 1914, the greatest surge of immigration brought more than 4 million Italians to the United States.[11][12] The largest number of this wave came from Southern Italy, which at that time was largely agricultural and where much of the populace had been impoverished by centuries of foreign rule and heavy tax burdens.[13][14] This period of large-scale immigration ended abruptly with the onset of World War I in 1914 and, except for one year (1922), never fully resumed.[clarification needed] Thousands of Italians immigrated[when?] despite new quota-based immigration restrictions.
History
Age of Discovery
Italian navigators and explorers played a significant role in the exploration and colonization of the Americas by Europeans.
Christopher Columbus, an Italian from Genoa, completed four voyages sponsored by Spain. Italian John Cabot explored the eastern seaboard of North America for Henry VII of England. In 1524, Giovanni da Verrazzano, a Florentine explorer, became the first documented European to map the Atlantic coast of the present-day United States. Italian navigators and explorers employed by Spain and France also played important roles. Marco da Nizza explored the region that later became Arizona and New Mexico in 1539. Henri de Tonti explored the Great Lakes region and co-founded New Orleans. Italian missionaries, including Alessandro Geraldini, François-Joseph Bressani, and Eusebio Kino, played a role in establishing Catholic missions in California. Kino explored and mapped the southwest and California.[16]
1776 – 1880
This period saw a small stream of new arrivals from Italy. Some brought skills in agriculture and the making of glass, silk, and wine, while others brought skills as businessmen or musicians. In 1773–1785,
After independence numerous political refugees arrived, most notably:
Missionaries of the
Civil War
Approximately 7,000 Italian Americans served in the American Civil War. The great majority of Italian Americans, for both demographic and ideological reasons, served in the Union Army (including generals Edward Ferrero and Francis B. Spinola). Some Americans of Italian descent from the Southern states fought in the Confederate Army, such as General William B. Taliaferro (of English-American and Anglo-Italian descent) and P. G. T. Beauregard.[23]
The
The great Italian diaspora (1880–1914)
From 1880 to 1914, 13 million Italians migrated out of Italy,[24] making Italy the scene of one of the largest voluntary emigrations in recorded world history.[25] During this period of mass migration, 4 million Italians arrived in the United States, 3 million of them between 1900 and 1914.[26] They came for the most part from southern Italy: the provinces of Abruzzo, Campania, Apulia, Basilicata, and Calabria and from the island of Sicily.[27] Most planned to stay a few years, then take their earnings and return home. According to historian Thomas J. Archdeacon, 46% of the Italians who entered the U.S. between 1899 and 1924 permanently returned home.[28]
Padrone system
Immigrants without industrial skills found employment in low-wage manual-labor jobs. Instead of finding jobs on their own, most used the padrone system whereby Italian middlemen (padroni) found jobs for groups of men and controlled their wages, transportation, and living conditions for a fee.[29][30]
According to historian Alfred T. Banfield:
- Criticized by many as slave traders who preyed upon poor, bewildered peasants, the 'padroni' often served as travel agents, with fees reimbursed from paychecks, as landlords who rented out shacks and boxcars, and as storekeepers who extended exorbitant credit to their Italian laborer clientele. Despite such abuse, not all 'padroni' were dastardly and most Italian immigrants reached out to their 'padroni' for economic salvation, considering them either as godsends or necessary evils. The Italians whom the 'padroni' brought to Maine generally had no intention of settling there, and most were sojourners who either returned to Italy or moved on to another job somewhere else. Nevertheless, thousands of Italians did settle in Maine, creating "Little Italies" in Portland, Millinocket, Rumford, and other towns where the 'padroni' remained as strong shaping forces in the new communities.[31]
Push and pull
In terms of the push-pull model of immigration,[32] America provided the pull factor by the prospect of jobs that unskilled uneducated Italian peasant farmers could do. Peasant farmers accustomed to hard work in the Mezzogiorno, for example, took jobs building railroads and constructing buildings, while others took factory jobs that required little or no skill.[33]
The push from southern Italy
The push factor came primarily from the harsh economic conditions in Southern Italy. Major factors that contributed to the large exodus included political and social unrest, the weak agricultural economy of the South modeled on the outdated
The pull of high wages
By far the strongest "pull" factor was money.[34] Migrants expected to make large sums in a few years of work, enabling them to live much better when they returned home, especially by buying a farm. Real life was never so golden—the Italians earned well below average rates. Their weekly earnings in manufacturing and mining in 1909 came to $9.61, compared to $13.63 for German immigrants and $11.06 for Poles.[35] The result was a sense of alienation from most of American culture, and a disinterest to learn English or otherwise assimilate.[36] Not many women came, but those who did became devoted to traditional Italian religious customs.[37] When the world war of 1914-1918 broke out, European migrants could not go home. Wages shot up, and the Italians benefitted greatly. Most decided to stay permanently and they flourished in the 1920s.[38]
"Little Italies"
Many sought housing in the older sections of the large Northeastern cities—districts that became known as "Little Italies", frequently in overcrowded substandard tenements which were often dimly lit with poor heating and ventilation. Tuberculosis and other communicable diseases were a constant health threat for the immigrant families that were compelled by economic circumstances to live in these dwellings. Other immigrant families lived in single-family abodes, which was more typical in areas outside of the enclaves of the large Northeastern cities, and other parts of the country as well.
"Birds of passage" return to Italy
An estimated 49 per cent of Italians who migrated to the Americas between 1905 (when return migration statistics began) and 1920 did not remain in the United States.[39] These so-called "birds of passage", intended to stay in the United States for only a limited time, followed by a return to Italy with enough in savings to re-establish themselves there. While many did return to Italy, others chose to stay, or were prevented from returning by the outbreak of World War I in 1914.[40]
Employment opportunities
The Italian male immigrants in the Little Italies were most often employed in manual labor and were heavily involved in
A
- Of the half million Italians that are in the United States, about 100,000 live in the city, and including those who live in Brooklyn, Jersey City, and the other suburbs the total number in the vicinity is estimated at about 160,000. After learning our ways they become good, industrious citizens.[42]
The New York Times in May 1896 sent its reporters to characterize the Little Italy/Mulberry neighborhood:
- They are laborers; toilers in all grades of manual work; they are artisans, they are junkmen, and here, too, dwell the rag pickers....There is a monster colony of Italians who might be termed the commercial or shop keeping community of the Latins. Here are all sorts of stores, pensions, groceries, fruit emporiums, tailors, shoemakers, wine merchants, importers, musical instrument makers....There are notaries, lawyers, doctors, apothecaries, undertakers.... There are more bankers among the Italians than among any other foreigners except the Germans in the city.[43]
The masses of Italian immigrants that entered the United States (1890-1900) posed a change in the labor market, prompting Fr. Michael J. Henry to write a letter in October 1900 to the Bishop John J. Clency of Sligo, Ireland; warning:[44]
- [that unskilled young Irishmen] would have to enter into competition with their pick-axe and shovel against other nationalities - Italians, Poles etc. to eke out bare existence. The Italians are more economic, can live on poor fare and consequently can afford to work for less wages than the ordinary Irishman
The Brooklyn Eagle in a 1900 article addressed the same reality:[44]
- The day of the Irish hod-carrier has long been past ... But it is the Italian now that does the work. Then came the Italian carpenter and finally the mason and the bricklayer
In spite of the economic hardship of the immigrants, civil and social life flourished in the Italian American neighborhoods of the large Northeastern cities. Italian theater, band concerts, choral recitals, puppet shows, mutual-aid societies, and social clubs were available to the immigrants.[45] An important event, the "festa", became for many an important connection to the traditions of their ancestral villages in Italy. The festa involved an elaborate procession through the streets in honor of a patron saint or the Virgin Mary in which a large statue was carried by a team of men, with musicians marching behind. Followed by food, fireworks and general merriment, the festa became an important occasion that helped give the immigrants a sense of unity and common identity.
Pull of California and the South
The destinations of many of the Italian immigrants were not only the large cities of the East Coast, but also more remote regions of the country, such as Florida and California. They were drawn there by opportunities in agriculture, fishing, mining, railroad construction, lumbering and other activities underway at the time. Oftentimes, the immigrants contracted to work in these areas of the country as a condition for payment of their passage. It was not uncommon, especially in the South, for the immigrants to be subjected to economic exploitation, hostility and sometimes even violence.[46] The Italian laborers who went to these areas were in many cases later joined by wives and children, which resulted in the establishment of permanent Italian American settlements in diverse parts of the country. A number of towns, such as Roseto, Pennsylvania,[47] Tontitown, Arkansas,[48] and Valdese, North Carolina[49] were founded by Italian immigrants during this era.
Pull of business opportunities
A number of major business ventures were founded by Italian Americans.
Pull of artistic opportunity
Following in the footsteps of Constantino Brumidi, others were commissioned to help create Washington's impressive monuments. An Italian immigrant, Attilio Piccirilli, and his five brothers carved the Lincoln Memorial, which they began in 1911 and completed in 1922. Italian construction workers helped build Washington's Union Station, considered one of the most beautiful in the country, which was begun in 1905 and completed in 1908. The six statues that decorate the station's facade were carved by Andrew Bernasconi between 1909 and 1911. Two Italian American master stone carvers, Roger Morigi and Vincent Palumbo, spent decades creating the sculptural works that embellish Washington National Cathedral.[51]
Italian conductors contributed to the early success of the
Italian Americans became involved in entertainment and sports.
Public roles
Italian Americans became increasingly involved in politics, government and the labor movement.
Numerous Italian Americans were at the forefront in fighting for worker's rights in industries such as the mining, textiles and garment industries, the most notable among these being
Society for the Protection of Italian Immigrants
An American teacher who had studied in Italy,
World War I and interwar period
The United States entered World War I in 1917. The Italian American community wholeheartedly supported the war effort and its young men, both American-born and Italian-born, enlisted in large numbers in the American Army.[62] It was estimated that, during the two years of the war (1917–18), Italian-American servicemen made up approximately 12% of the total American forces, a disproportionately high percentage of the total.[63] An Italian-born American infantryman, Michael Valente, was awarded the Medal of Honor for his service. Another 103 Italian Americans (83 Italian born) were awarded the Distinguished Service Cross, the second highest decoration.[64] Italian Americans also accounted for more than 10% of war casualties World War I, despite making up less than 4% of the U.S. population.[65]
Restricted immigration
The war, together with the restrictive Emergency Quota Act of 1921 and Immigration Act of 1924, heavily curtailed Italian immigration. Total annual immigration was capped at 357,000 in 1921, lowered to 150,000 in 1924, and quotas were allotted on a national basis in proportion to a nationality's existing share of the population. The National Origins Formula, which sought to preserve the existing demographic makeup of the United States and generally favored Northwestern European immigration, computed Italians to be the fifth-largest national origin of the U.S. population in 1920, to be assigned 3.87% of annual quota immigrant spots.[66][67] Despite implementation of the quota, the inflow of Italian immigrants remained between 6 or 7% of all immigrants.[68][69][70] And when the restrictive quota system was abolished by the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965, Italians had already grown to be the second-largest immigrant group in America, with 5,067,717 immigrants from Italy admitted between 1820 and 1966—constituting 12% of all immigrants to the United States—more than from Great Britain (4,711,711) and from Ireland (4,706,854).[11]
Employment and unemployment
In the interwar period, jobs as policemen, firemen and civil servants became increasingly available to Italian Americans; while others found employment as plumbers, electricians, mechanics and carpenters. Women found jobs as civil servants, secretaries, dressmakers, and clerks. With better paying jobs they moved to more affluent neighborhoods outside of the Italian enclaves. The
Politics
By 1920, numerous Little Italies had stabilized and grown considerably more prosperous as workers were able to obtain higher-paying jobs, often in skilled trades. In the 1920s and 1930s Italian Americans contributed significantly to American life and culture, politics, music, film, the arts, sports, the labor movement and business.
In politics, Al Smith (Anglicized form of the Italian surname Ferraro) became the first governor of New York of Italian ancestry—although the media characterized him as an Irish. He was the first Catholic to receive a major party presidential nomination, as Democratic candidate for president in 1928. He lost Protestant strongholds in the South, but energized the Democratic vote in immigrant centers across the entire North. Angelo Rossi was mayor of San Francisco in 1931–1944. In 1933–34 Ferdinand Pecora led a Senate investigation of the Wall Street Crash of 1929, which exposed major financial abuses, and spurred Congress to rein in the banking industry.[71] Liberal leader Fiorello La Guardia served as Republican and Fusion mayor of New York City in 1934–1945. On the far left Vito Marcantonio was first elected to Congress in 1934 from New York.[72] Robert Maestri was mayor of New Orleans in 1936–1946.[73]
Music, Hollywood and arts
The
Popular singers of the period included
The film industry of this era included
In public art, Luigi Del Bianco was the chief stone carver at
Sports
In sports,
Economy
Italian American businessmen specialized in growing and selling fresh fruits and vegetables, which were cultivated on small tracts of land in the suburban parts of many cities.
Mafia and Capone
The Mafia, or La Cosa Nostra is a highly organized Italian
Al Capone was the nation's most famous gangster in the 1920s. He attained notoriety during the Prohibition era as the co-founder and boss of the Chicago Outfit. The most famous single crime was the Saint Valentine's Day Massacre of 1929, when Capone's men, dressed as policemen, massacred seven members of a rival gang. His seven-year reign as a crime boss ended when he went to federal prison at the age of 33. Ethnic America made him a hero, seeing him as the epitome of self-made success, a defender of American ideals, a family man, and a philanthropist. His stature helped ethnics justify their own violations of the prohibition laws against liquor.[81]
Mussolini for and against
Benito Mussolini's Fascist regime in Italy sought to build a base of popular support in the United States, focusing on the Italian community. His supporters far outnumbered his opponents, both inside the Italian American community, among all Catholics, and among the wider American leadership.[82][83])
According to Stefano Luconi, in the 1920s and 1930s "numerous Italian Americans became US citizens, registered for the vote, and cast their ballots in order to lobby Congress and the Presidency on behalf of fascism and to support Mussolini's goals in foreign policy."[84]
According to Fraser Ottanelli, Rome also worked to enhance Italy's reputation through a series of highly visible moves. They included participating in the Century of Progress (1933-1934) world fair in Chicago; Italo Balbo's dramatic transatlantic flights; and donating a statue to Chicago. A small minority of Italian Americans strongly opposed these moves because they fervently opposed Fascism. They promoted an unsuccessful measure in Congress that condemned Italy's meddling in U.S. internal affairs and called for the revocation of U.S. citizenship from people who swore allegiance to Mussolini. Alberto Tarchiani, Italy's first ambassador to the U.S. after World War II, requested the removal of any displays that honored the Fascist regime, but with little success. Many memorials remain in the 21st century.[85]
World War II
As a member of the
Although the great majority of Italian Americans admired Mussolini in the 1930s, very few if any demonstrated any desire to transfer Fascist ideology to America.[65] When Italy entered the war on the side of Nazi Germany in 1940, "most Italian Americans distanced themselves from Fascism."[94]
Anti-fascist Italian expatriates in the United States founded the
Between 750,000 and 1.5 million people of Italian descent are thought to have served in the U.S. armed forces during the war, about 10% of the total, and 14 Italian Americans received the Medal of Honor for their service.
Biagio (Max) Corvo, an agent of the U.S. Office of Strategic Services (O.S.S.), drew up plans for the invasion of Sicily, and organized operations behind enemy lines in the Mediterranean region during World War II. He led the Italian Secret Intelligence branch of the O.S.S., which was able to smuggle hundreds of agents behind enemy lines, supply Italian partisan fighters, and maintain a liaison between Allied field commands and Italy's first post-Fascist Government. Corvo was awarded the Legion of Merit for his efforts during the war.[99]
The work of
Three United States World War II destroyers were named after Italian Americans: USS Basilone (DD-824) was named for Sgt. John Basilone; USS Damato (DD-871) was named for Corporal Anthony P. Damato, who was awarded the Medal of Honor posthumously for his valor during World War II; and USS Gherardi (DD-637) was named for Rear Admiral Bancroft Gherardi, who served during the Mexican–American War and the American Civil War.
Wartime violation of Italian-American civil liberties
From the onset of the (second world) war, and particularly following
On November 7, 2000, Bill Clinton signed the Wartime Violation of Italian American Civil Liberties Act.[101][104] This act ordered a comprehensive review by the Attorney General of the United States of the treatment of Italian Americans during the Second World War. The findings concluded that:
- The freedom of more than 600,000 Italian-born immigrants in the United States and their families was restricted during World War II by Government measures that branded them 'enemy aliens' and included carrying identification cards, travel restrictions, and seizure of personal property.
- During World War II more than 10,000 Italian Americans living on the West Coast were forced to leave their homes and prohibited from entering coastal zones. More than 50,000 were subjected to curfews.
- During World War II thousands of Italian-American immigrants were arrested, and hundreds were interned in military camps.
- Hundreds of thousands of Italian Americans performed exemplary service and thousands sacrificed their lives in defense of the United States.
- At the time, Italians were the largest foreign-born group in the United States, and today are the fifth largest immigrant group in the United States, numbering approximately 15 million.
- The impact of the wartime experience was devastating to Italian-American communities in the United States, and its effects are still being felt.
- A deliberate policy kept these measures from the public during the war. Even 50 years later much information is still classified, the full story remains unknown to the public, and it has never been acknowledged in any official capacity by the United States Government.
In 2010, California officially issued an apology to the Italian Americans whose civil liberties had been violated.[105]
Post-World War II period
Italians continued to immigrate to the United States, and an estimated 600,000 arrived in the decades following the war. Many of the new arrivals had professional training, or were skilled in various trades. After the end of World War II, a small number of
The post-war period was a time of great social change for Italian Americans. Many aspired to a college education, which became possible for returning veterans through the
Italian Americans took advantage of the new opportunities that generally became available to all in the post-war decades. They made many significant contributions to American life and culture.
Numerous Italian Americans became involved in politics at the local, state and national levels in the post-war decades. Those that became U.S. senators included:
Scores of Italian Americans became well known singers in the post-war period, including: Frank Sinatra, Mario Lanza, Perry Como, Dean Martin, Tony Bennett, Frankie Laine, Bobby Darin, Julius La Rosa, Connie Francis, and Madonna. Italian Americans who hosted popular musical/variety TV shows in the post-war decades included: Perry Como (1949 to 1967), piano virtuoso Liberace (1952–1956), Jimmy Durante (1954–1956), Frank Sinatra (1957–1958) and Dean Martin (1965–1974). Broadway, musical stars included: Rose Marie, Carol Lawrence, Anna Maria Alberghetti, Sergio Franchi, Patti LuPone, Ezio Pinza, and Liza Minnelli.
In music composition,
Numerous Italian Americans became well known in movies, both as actors and directors, and many were Academy Award recipients. Movie directors included: Frank Capra, Francis Ford Coppola, Michael Cimino, Vincente Minnelli, Martin Scorsese, and Brian De Palma.
Italian Americans were active in professional sports as players, coaches and commissioners. Well-known professional baseball coaches in the post-war decades included:
In college football,
In college basketball, a number of Italian Americans became well-known coaches in the post-war decades, including: John Calipari, Lou Carnesecca, Rollie Massimino, Rick Pitino, Jim Valvano, Dick Vitale, Tom Izzo, Mike Fratello, Ben Carnevale, and Geno Auriemma.
Italian Americans became nationally known in other diverse sports.
Italian Americans founded many successful enterprises, both small and large, in the post-war decades, including:
Eight Italian Americans became Nobel Prize laureates in the post-war decades:
Italian Americans continued to serve with distinction in the military, with four Medal of Honor recipients in the
At the close of the 20th century, 31 men and women of Italian descent were serving in the U.S. House and Senate and 82 of the 1,000 largest U.S. cities had mayors of Italian descent, and 166 college and university presidents were of Italian descent.
Influence on American culture and society
Italian Americans have influenced the
The historical figure of Christopher Columbus is commemorated on Columbus Day and is reflected in numerous monuments, city names, names of institutions, and the poetic name, "Columbia", for the United States itself. Italian American identification with the Genoese explorer whose fame lay in his grand voyages departing Europe across the Atlantic Ocean to make discoveries in the New World—playing an important role in American history and identity, but of negligible significance to the history of Italy—typifies Italian Americans' limited sense of nationalism and generally loose attachment to Italy itself as a foreign country, in contrast to e.g. the preoccupations of Irish Americans with the political situation in Ireland throughout the 20th century, or American Jews' deep personal investment in the fate of Israel.[65]
Politics
In the 1930s, Italian Americans voted heavily Democratic.[124]
Geraldine Ferraro was the first woman on a major party ticket, running for Vice President as a Democrat in 1984. Two justices of the Supreme Court have been Italian Americans, Antonin Scalia and Samuel Alito. Both were appointed by Republican presidents, Scalia by Ronald Reagan and Alito by George W. Bush.
The Italian American Congressional Delegation currently includes 30 members of Congress who are of Italian descent. They are joined by more than 150 associate members, who are not Italian American but have large Italian American constituencies. Since its founding in 1975, the National Italian American Foundation (NIAF) has worked closely with the bicameral and bipartisan Italian American Congressional Delegation, which is led by co-chairs Rep. Bill Pascrell of New Jersey and Rep. Pat Tiberi of Ohio.
The NIAF hosts a variety of public policy programs, contributing to public discourse on timely policy issues facing the nation and the world. These events are held on Capitol Hill and other locations under the auspices of NIAF's Frank J. Guarini Public Policy Forum and its sister program, the NIAF Public Policy Lecture Series. NIAF's 2009 public policy programs on Capitol Hill featured prominent Italians and Italian Americans as keynote speakers, including Leon Panetta, Director of the CIA, and Franco Frattini, Minister of Foreign Affairs for the Republic of Italy.
By the 1890s
However, in contrast to other ethnic groups, Italian Americans demonstrate a marked lack of ethnocentrism and long history of political individualism, eschewing ethnic bloc voting, preferring to vote based on individual candidates and issues, embracing maverick political candidates over ethnic loyalties. Popular New York Mayor Fiorello La Guardia in fact underperformed among his own demographic; in 1941, La Guardia even lost the Italian vote to his Irish opponent William O'Dwyer. In 1965, when New York Democrats backed Mario Procaccino, an Italian-born candidate for city comptroller, Procaccino lost the Italian vote and only won his election due to support in Jewish voter precincts. In the 1973 New York City mayoral election, the son of Italian immigrants Mario Biaggi failed to unite Italian voters as an ethnic bloc the way his Jewish opponent Abraham Beame could do to win the Democratic primary.[65]
In the
The pragmatic maverick streak of Italian American voters, reacting to individual candidates and circumstances, emerged clearly amid the
Economy
Italian Americans have played a prominent role in the economy of the United States, and have founded companies of great national importance, such as
Social and economic conditions of Italian Americans
About two thirds of America's Italian immigrants arrived during 1900–1914. Many were of agrarian backgrounds, with little formal education and industrial skills, who became manual laborers heavily concentrated in the cities. Others came with traditional Italian skills as: tailors; barbers; bricklayers; stonemasons; stone cutters; marble, tile and terrazzo workers; fishermen; musicians; singers; shoe makers; shoe repairers; cooks; bakers; carpenters; grape growers; wine makers; silk makers; dressmakers; and seamstresses. Others came to provide for the needs of the immigrant communities, notably doctors, dentists, midwives, lawyers, teachers, morticians, priests, nuns, and brothers. Many of the skilled workers found work in their speciality, first in the Italian enclaves and eventually in the broader society. Traditional skills were often passed down from father to son, and from mother to daughter.
By the second-generation approximately 70% of the men had blue collar jobs, and the proportion was down to approximately 50% in the third generation, according to surveys in 1963.[131] By 1987, the level of Italian-American income exceeded the national average, and since the 1950s it grew faster than any other ethnic group except the Jews.[132] By 1990, according to the U.S. census, more than 65% of Italian Americans were employed as managerial, professional, or white-collar workers. In 1999, the median annual income of Italian-American families was $61,300, while the median annual income of all American families was $50,000.[133]
A University of Chicago study[134] of fifteen ethnic groups showed that Italian Americans were among those groups having the lowest percentages of divorce, unemployment, people on welfare and those incarcerated. On the other hand, they were among those groups with the highest percentages of two-parent families, elderly family members still living at home, and families who eat together on a regular basis.
Science
Italian Americans have been responsible for major breakthroughs in virtually all fields of science, including engineering, medicine and physics. Physicist and Nobel-prize laureate
Women
Italian women who arrived during the period of mass immigration had to adapt to new and unfamiliar social and economic conditions. Mothers, who had the task of raising the children and providing for the welfare of the family, commonly demonstrated great courage and resourcefulness in meeting these obligations, often under adverse living conditions. Their cultural traditions, which placed the highest priority on the family, remained strong as Italian immigrant women adapted to these new circumstances.
To assist the immigrants in the Little Italies, who were overwhelmingly Catholic, Pope
Married women typically avoided factory work and chose home-based economic activities such as dressmaking, taking in boarders, and operating small shops in their homes or neighborhoods. Italian neighborhoods also proved attractive to midwives, women who trained in Italy before coming to America.[136] Many single women were employed in the garment industry as seamstresses, often in unsafe working environments. Many of the 146 who died in the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire in 1911 were Italian-American women. Angela Bambace was an 18-year-old Italian American organizer for the International Ladies Garment Workers Union in New York who worked to secure better working conditions and shorter hours for women workers in the garment industry.
The American scene in the 1920s featured a widespread expansion of women's roles, starting with the vote in 1920, and including new standards of education, employment and control of their own sexuality. "
In the second and third generations, opportunities expanded as women were gradually accepted in the workplace and as entrepreneurs. Women also had much better job opportunities because they had a high school or sometimes college education, and were willing to leave the Little Italies and commute to work.[139] During World War II large numbers of Italian American women entered the workforce in factories providing war materiel, while others served as auxiliaries or nurses in the military services.
After World War II, Italian American women acquired an increasing degree of freedom in choosing a career, and seeking higher levels of education. Consequently, the second half of the 20th century was a period in which Italian American women excelled in virtually all fields of endeavor. In politics,
Literature
The works of a number of early Italian American authors and poets, born of immigrant parents, were published in the first half of the 20th century.
Later in the century, a growing number of books by recognized Italian-American authors, such as Don DeLillo,[140] Paul Gallico (Poseidon Adventure), Gilbert Sorrentino, Gay Talese, Camille Paglia and Mario Puzo (The Fortunate Pilgrim) found a place in mainstream American literature. Other notable 20th-century authors included: Dana Gioia, executive director of the National Endowment for the Arts; John Fusco, author of Paradise Salvage; Tina DeRosa; and Daniela Gioseffi, winner of the John Ciardi Award for Lifetime Achievement in Poetry, and The American Book Award; and Josephine Gattuso Hendin (The Right Thing to Do). Poets Sandra (Mortola) Gilbert and Kim Addonizio were also winners of the John Ciardi Award for Lifetime Achievement in Poetry from Italian Americana, as was writer Helen Barolini and poet Maria Mazziotti Gillan.[141] These women have authored many books depicting Italian American women in a new light. Helen Barolini's The Dream Book: An Anthology of Writings by Italian American Women (1985) was the first anthology that pulled together the historic range of writing from the late 19th century to the 1980s. It exhibited the wealth of fiction, poetry, essays, and letters, and paid special attention to the interaction of Italian American women with American social activism.[142] Italian American poets Lawrence Ferlinghetti and Gregory Corso played a prominent role in the Beat Generation. Ferlinghetti was also the co-founder of City Lights Bookstore, a San Francisco bookstore and publishing company that published much of the work of other Beat Generation writers.[143] Many of these authors' books and writings are easily found on the internet, as for example on an archive of Contemporary Italian American authors, as well as in bibliographies online at Stonybrook University's Italian American Studies Department in New York,[144] or at the Italian American Writers Association website.[145]
A scholarly literature has also emerged that critiques the literary output. Common themes include conflicts between marginal Italian American and mainstream culture, and tradition-bound immigrant parents opposed by their more assimilated children.[146] Mary Jo Bona provided the first full-length scholarly analysis of the literary tradition. She is especially interested in showing how authors portrayed the many configurations of family relationships, from the early immigrant narratives of journeying to a new world, through novels that stress intergenerational conflicts, to contemporary works about the struggle of modern women to form nontraditional gender roles.[147]
Among the scholars who have led the renaissance in Italian-American literature are professors Richard Gambino, Anthony Julian Tamburri, Paolo Giordano, and Fred Gardaphé. The latter three founded Bordighera Press and edited From the Margin, An Anthology of Italian American Writing, Purdue University Press. At Brooklyn College, Dr. Robert Viscusi founded the Italian American Writers Association, and is an author and American Book Award winner himself. As a result of the efforts of magazines like Voices in Italian Americana, Ambassador, a publication of the National Italian American Foundation and Italian Americana, edited by Carla Simonini, Italian Americans have been reading more works of their own writers. A supplemental website at www.italianamericana.com to the journal Italian Americana, edited by novelist Christine Palamidessi Moore, also offers historical articles, stories, memoirs, poetry, and book reviews. Dana Gioia, was Poetry Editor of Italian Americana from 1993 to 2003, followed by poet Michael Palma, who also selects poems for Italian Americana's webpage supplement.[148] Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Daniela Gioseffi and Paul Mariani, are among the internationally known authors who have been awarded The John Ciardi Award for Lifetime Achievement in Poetry during Michael Palma's tenure as Poetry Editor. Daniela Gioseffi, with Alfredo De Palchi, founded The Annual $2000 Bordighera Poetry Prize[149] to further the names of Italian American poets in American literature. As of 1997, twelve books have been published in the bilingual series from Bordighera Press.[150]
In the field of academic cinema studies, Peter Bondanella, Peter Brunette and Frank P. Tomasulo have made significant contributions to film scholarship as authors, editors, and educators.
Italian Americans have written not only about the Italian American experience but, indeed, the human experience. Some of the most popular inspirational books have been authored by Italian Americans – notably, those of Og Mandino, Leo Buscaglia and Antoinette Bosco.[151] A series of inspirational books for children has been written by Tomie dePaola. Contemporary best-selling fiction writers include David Baldacci, Kate DiCamillo, Richard Russo, Adriana Trigiani, and Lisa Scottoline.
Religion
The majority of Italian Americans are Catholics, although Catholic affiliation among Italian American adults has fallen from 89% in 1972 to 56% in 2010 (-33 percentage points).[152] By 1910, Italian-Americans had founded 219 Catholic churches and 41 parochial schools, served by 315 priests and 254 nuns, 2 Catholic seminaries and 3 orphanages.[153] Four hundred Italian Jesuit priests left Italy for the American West between 1848 and 1919. Most of these Jesuits left their homeland involuntarily, expelled by Italian nationalists in the successive waves of Italian unification that dominated Italy. When they came to the West, they ministered to Indians in the Northwest, Irish-Americans in San Francisco and Mexican Americans in the South West; they also ran the nation's most influential Catholic seminary, in Woodstock, Md. In addition to their pastoral work, they founded numerous high schools and colleges, including Regis University, Santa Clara University, the University of San Francisco and Gonzaga University.[154]
In some Sicilian American communities, primarily
While most Italian-American families have a Catholic background, about 19% self-identified as
Italian Jews
The Jewish emigration from Italy was never of a magnitude that resulted in the formation of Italian-Jewish communities in the United States. Religious Italian Jews integrated into existing Jewish communities without difficulty, especially in
From a religious point of view the figure of greatest influence is that of Rabbi Sabato Morais who, at the end of the nineteenth century, was the leader of the large Sephardic community of Philadelphia and, in 1886, he became one of the founders of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America in New York, where he became its first dean. Two other Italian Jews achieved prominence in the United States in the first half of the twentieth century: Giorgio Polacco was the principal conductor of the Metropolitan Opera House (1915–1917), and the Chicago Civic Opera (1921–30); and Fiorello La Guardia was a member of the U.S. Congress (1917–1919 and 1923–1933), and a popular Mayor of New York (1934–1945). A descendant on his mother's side of the great Italian rabbi Samuel David Luzzatto, La Guardia could address his constituency in both Italian and Yiddish.
Under
Education
During the era of mass immigration, rural families in Italy did not place a high value on formal education since they needed their children to help with chores as soon as they were old enough. For many, this attitude did not change upon arriving in America, where children were expected to help support the family as soon as possible.
There are two Italian international schools in the United States, La Scuola International[164] in San Francisco, and La Scuola d'Italia Guglielmo Marconi in New York City.[165]
Language
Italian speakers in the U.S. | |
Year | Speakers |
---|---|
1910a | 1,365,110 |
1920a | 1,624,998 |
1930a | 1,808,289 |
1940a | 1,561,100 |
1960a | 1,277,585 |
1970a | 1,025,994 |
1980[166] | 1,618,344 |
1990[167] | 1,308,648 |
2000[168] | 1,008,370 |
2011[169] | 723,632 |
^a Foreign-born population only[170] |
According to the Sons of Italy News Bureau, from 1998 to 2002 the enrollment in college Italian language courses grew by 30%, faster than the enrollment rates for French and German.[171] Italian is the fourth most commonly taught foreign language in U.S. colleges and universities behind Spanish, French, and German. According to the U.S. 2000 Census, Italian (including Sicilian) is the sixth most spoken language in the United States (tied with Vietnamese) after English with over 1 million speakers.[172]
As a result of the large wave of Italian immigration to the United States in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Italian and Sicilian were once widely spoken in much of the U.S., especially in northeastern and Great Lakes area cities like Buffalo, Rochester, Detroit, Chicago, Cleveland and Milwaukee, as well as San Francisco, St. Louis and New Orleans. Italian-language newspapers exist in many American cities, especially New York City, and Italian-language movie theatres existed in the U.S. as late as the 1950s. L'Idea is a bilingual quarterly published in Brooklyn since 1974. Arba Sicula (Sicilian Dawn) is a semiannual publication of the society of the same name, dedicated to preserving the Sicilian language. The magazine and a periodic newsletter offer prose, poetry and comment in Sicilian, with adjacent English translations.
Today, prizes like the Bordighera Annual Poetry Prize,[173] founded by Daniela Gioseffi, Pietro Mastrandrea and Alfredo di Palchi, with support from the Sonia Rraiziss-Giop Foundation and Bordighera Press, which publishes the winners in bilingual editions, have helped to encourage writers of the diaspora to write in Italian. Chelsea Books in New York City and Gradiva Press on Long Island have published many bilingual books due to the efforts of bilingual writers of the diaspora like Paolo Valesio,[174] Alfredo de Palchi,[175] and Luigi Fontanella. Dr. Luigi Bonaffini[176] of the City University of New York, publisher of The Journal of Italian Translation at Brooklyn College, has fostered Italian dialectic poetry throughout Italy and the U.S. Joseph Tusiani of New York and New York University,[177] a distinguished linguist and prize-winning poet born in Italy, paved the way for Italian works of literature in English and has published many bilingual books and Italian classics for the American audience, among them the first complete works of Michelangelo's poems in English to be published in the United States. All of this literary endeavor has helped to foster the Italian language, along with Italian opera, of course, in the United States. Many of these authors and their bilingual books are located throughout the internet.
Author Lawrence Distasi argues that the loss of spoken Italian among the Italian American population can be tied to U.S. government pressures during World War II. During World War II, in various parts of the country, the U.S. government displayed signs that read, "Don't Speak the Enemy's Language". Such signs designated the languages of the Axis powers, German, Japanese and Italian, as "enemy languages". Shortly after the Axis powers declared war on the U.S., many Italian, Japanese and German citizens were interned. Among the Italian Americans, those who spoke Italian, who had never become citizens and who belonged to groups that praised Benito Mussolini, were most likely to become candidates for internment. Distasi claims that many Italian language schools closed down in the San Francisco Bay Area within a week of the U.S. declaration of war on the Axis powers. Such closures were inevitable since most of the teachers in Italian languages were interned.
Despite previous decline, Italian and Sicilian are still spoken and studied by those of Italian American descent and it can be heard in various American communities, especially among older Italian Americans. The official Italian taught in schools is Standard Italian, which is based on 14th century literary Florentine.[178] However, the "Italian" with which Italian Americans are generally acquainted is often rooted in the Regional Italian and Italo-Dalmatian languages their immigrant ancestors brought from Italy to American, primarily southern Italian and Sicilian dialects of pre-unification Italy.[179]
Despite it being the fifth most studied language in higher education (college and graduate) settings throughout America,[180] the Italian language has struggled to maintain being an AP course of study in high schools nationwide. It was only in 2006 that AP Italian classes were first introduced, and they were soon dropped from the national curricula after the spring of 2009.[181] The organization which manages such curricula, the College Board, ended the AP Italian program because it was "losing money" and had failed to add 5,000 new students each year. Since the program's termination in the spring of 2009, various Italian organizations and activists have attempted to revive the course of study. Most notable in the effort is Margaret Cuomo, sister of New York Governor Andrew Cuomo. She provided the impetus for the program's birth in 2006 and is currently attempting to secure funding and teachers to reinstate the program. It is also worth noting that Italian organizations have begun fundraisers to revive AP Italian. Organizations such as the NIAF and Order Sons of Italy in America have made strides in collecting money, and are prepared to aid in the monetary responsibility any new AP Italian program would bring with it.
Web-based Italian organizations, such as ItalianAware,[182] have begun book donation campaigns to improve the status and representation of Italian and Italian American literature in the New York public libraries. According to ItalianAware, the Brooklyn Public Library is the worst offender in New York City.[183] It has 11 books pertaining to the Italian immigrant experience available for checkout, spread across 60 branches. That amounts to one book for every six branches in Brooklyn, which (according to ItalianAware) cannot supply the large Italian/Italian American community in the borough. ItalianAware aimed to donate 100 books to the Brooklyn Public Library by the end of 2010.
Italian American pidgin
Italian American pidgin or Italian American slang is a
Cuisine
Italian Americans have profoundly influenced the eating habits of America. An increasing number of Italian dishes are well known and enjoyed. Italian American TV personalities, such as
have hosted popular cooking shows featuring Italian cuisine.While heavily influenced by and sharing common dishes with
Folklore
One of the most characteristic and popular of Italian American cultural contributions has been their feasts. Throughout the United States, wherever one may find an "Italian neighborhood" (often referred to as "Little Italy"), one can find festive celebrations such as the well-known
Currently, there are more than 300 Italian feasts celebrated throughout the United States. Notable is Festa Italiana, held in Milwaukee every summer. These feasts are visited each year by millions of Americans from various backgrounds who come together to enjoy Italian music and food delicacies. In the past, as to this day, an important part of Italian American culture centers around music and cuisine.
TV and press
Numerous American television personalities are of Italian descent. Talk-show hosts include
Italian American newspapers
Voters did not always vote the way editorials dictated, but they depended on the news coverage. At many smaller papers, support for Mussolini, short-sighted opportunism, deference to political patrons who were not members of the Italian-American communities, and the necessity of making a living through periodicals with a small circulation, generally weakened the owners of Italian-language newspapers when they tried to become political brokers of the Italian American vote.[188]
James V. Donnaruma purchased Boston's La Gazzetta del Massachusetts in 1905. La Gazzetta enjoyed a wide readership in Boston's Italian community because it emphasized detailed coverage of local ethnic events and explained how events in Europe affected the community. Donnaruma's editorial positions, however, were frequently at odds with the sentiments of his readership. Donnaruma's conservative views and desire for greater advertising revenue prompted him to court the favor of Boston's Republican elite, to whom he pledged editorial support in return for the purchase of advertising space for political campaigns. La Gazzetta consistently supported Republican candidates and policy positions, even when the party was proposing and passing laws to restrict Italian immigration. Nevertheless, voting records from the 1920s–1930s show that Boston's Italian Americans voted heavily for Democratic candidates.[189][190]
Carmelo Zito took over the San Francisco newspaper Il Corriere del Popolo in 1935. Under Zito, it became one of the fiercest foes of Mussolini's fascism on the West Coast. It vigorously attacked Italy's 1935 invasion of Ethiopia and its intervention in the Spanish Civil War. Zito helped form the Italian-American Anti-Fascist League and often attacked certain Italian prominenti like Ettore Patrizi, publisher of L'Italia and La Voce del Popolo. Zito's paper campaigned against alleged Italian pro-Fascist language schools of San Francisco.[191]
In 1909, Vincenzo Giuliano, an immigrant from Calabria, Italy and his wife Maria Oliva founded La Tribune Italiana d'America, known today as The Italian Tribune, which circulates throughout southeastern Michigan. A second newspaper founded by a Catholic order of priests, La Voce del Popolo also served the Metro Detroit community until the 1920s, when that newspaper merged with La Tribuna Italiana d'America. Upon Giuliano's death in the 1960s, his family continued the paper.
Organizations
Italian-American organizations include:
- Alpha Phi Delta
- American Italian Anti-Defamation League
- Columbus Citizens Foundation
- Italian American Congressional Delegation
- Italian American One Voice Coalition
- Italian-American Civil Rights League
- Italian-American National Union
- Italy–USA Foundation
- National Organization of Italian American Women
- Order Sons of Italy in America
- Unico National
- The Columbian Foundation
- American Relief for Italy, Inc (ARI)
In 1944, the creation of the American Relief for Italy, Inc (ARI) functioned as an umbrella organization until 1946. The ARI collected, shipped, and distributed over $10 million of relief materials donated by other Italian organizations and individuals from all over Italy. Catholic charities, labor unions, cultural clubs, and fraternal organizations all responded in helping to raise money for the ARI. These relief materials were donated to Italians in need and helped to provide humanitarian assistance. All remaining donations were distributed to Italian soldiers at war. This organization was one of the first steps in the lengthy process of political and economic stabilizations in postwar Italy.[193]
- American Committee on Italian Migration (ACIM)
Throughout the 1950s and the 1960s, the American Committee on Italian Migration (ACIM) was one of the largest, most active Italian American organizations in the United States. They gave assistance to Italian immigrants living in the United States threatened by political instability and provided recovery for those in need. Frequently, money and supplies were sent back home to those who were unable to migrate or were in the process of migrating to the United States. Most of these people were the women and children Italian men left behind in hopes of starting a new life in America. The ACIM grew rapidly with hundreds of thousands of members being both donors and beneficiaries.[193]
- National Catholic Welfare Conference (NCWC)
The National Catholic Welfare Conference (NCWC) worked with ACIM on legislative campaigns and immigration projects. In 1951, members from NCWC, ACIM, as well as other Italian Americans joined in efforts to create an organization that specifically benefited and focused on assisting Italian immigrants. After a vast effort in 1953, the Refugee Relief Act (RRA) was passed allowing the entrance of over two hundred thousand Italian immigrants into the United States. The RRA provided these Italian immigrants with many opportunities to start their new life in America. Job opportunities, a place to live, and proper education for immigrants children were provided.[193]
The National Italian American Foundation (NIAF) [194] – a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization headquartered in Washington, D.C. – works to represent Italian Americans, spread knowledge of the Italian language, foster U.S./Italy relations and connect the greater Italian American community. Additionally, two major Italian American fraternal and service organizations, Order Sons of Italy in America and Unico National, actively promote knowledge of Italian American history and culture.
The Italian Heritage and Culture Committee – NY, Inc. was founded in 1976, and has organized special events, concerts, exhibits and lectures celebrating Italian culture in New York City. Each year it focuses on a theme representative of the history and culture of Italy and Italian Americans.
The Italic Institute of America[195] is dedicated to fostering and preserving knowledge of the classical Italian heritage of American society, through the Latin language and Greco-Roman-Etruscan civilization, as well as five centuries of contributions to American society by Italians and their descendants.
Museums
There are several museums in the United States, dedicated to Italian American culture:
- San Francisco, California: Museo ItaloAmericano
- Los Angeles, California: Italian American Museum of Los Angeles
- Chicago, Illinois: Casa Italia Chicago[196]
- New Orleans, Louisiana: American Italian Cultural Center[197]
- Albany, New York: American Italian Heritage Association and Museum[198]
- New York, New York: Italian American Museum[199]
- Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: History of Italian Immigration Museum (Filitalia Foundation)[200]
Discrimination and stereotyping
During the period of mass immigration to the United States, they were often victims of prejudice, economic exploitation, and sometimes even violence, particularly in the South. In the 1890s, more than 20 Italians were lynched.[201] The hostility was often directed toward the Southern Italians and Sicilians who began immigrating to the United States in large numbers after 1880.[202]
A journalist asked a West Coast construction boss if the Italian was a white man, to which the boss replied: "No sir, an Italian is a Dago".[203] This response reflected the xenophobic attitude of the time defining the idea of Whiteness in the United States. There was a social hierarchy within the various white American communities in which a different degrees of "whiteness" was associated with each group. Some European immigrants, such as Italians, were considered less white than the early European settlers and, therefore, were less accepted in American society.
Italian stereotypes abounded as a means of justifying the maltreatment of the immigrants. The print media greatly contributed to the stereotyping of Italians with lurid accounts of secret societies and criminality. Between 1890 and 1920, Italian neighborhoods were often depicted as violent and controlled by criminal networks. Two highly publicized cases illustrate the impact of these negative stereotypes:
In 1891,
In 1920, two Italian immigrants,
While the vast majority of Italian immigrants brought with them a tradition of hard work and were law-abiding citizens, as documented by police statistics of the early 20th century in Boston and New York City which show that Italian immigrants had an arrest rate no greater than that of other major immigrant groups,[204] a very small minority brought a very different custom. This criminal element preyed on the immigrants of the Little Italies, using intimidation and threats to extract protection money from the wealthier immigrants and shop owners, and were also involved in a multitude of other illegal activities. When the Fascists came to power in Italy, they made the destruction of the Mafia in Sicily a high priority. Hundreds fled to America in the 1920s and 1930s to avoid prosecution.
Prohibition, which went into effect in 1920, proved to be an economic windfall for those in the Italian American community already involved in illegal activities, and those who had fled from Sicily. This entailed smuggling liquor into the country, wholesaling it, and then selling it through a network of outlets. While other ethnic groups were also deeply involved in these illegal ventures, and the associated violence, Chicago mobster Al Capone became the most notorious figure of the Prohibition era. Though eventually repealed, Prohibition had a long-term effect as the spawning ground for later criminal activities.
In the 1950s, the scope of
From the earliest days of the movie industry, Italians have been portrayed as violent criminals and sociopaths.
A highly publicized protest from the Italian-American community came in 2001 when the Chicago-based organization AIDA (American Italian Defamation Association) unsuccessfully sued
The DreamWorks animated film, Shark Tale, was widely protested by virtually all major Italian-American organizations as introducing the mob genre and negative stereotyping into a children's movie.[210] In spite of the protests, which started during its early production, the movie was produced and released in 2004.
In 2009, MTV launched a reality show, Jersey Shore,[211] which prompted severe criticism from Italian American organizations such as the National Italian American Foundation, Order Sons of Italy in America, and Unico National for its stereotypical portrayal of Italian Americans.
In 2019, Made in Staten Island lasted just three episodes, also on MTV, before a public outcry from residents of the borough in general, and Italian-American residents therein in particular, forced the show's cancellation.
The effective stereotyping of Italian Americans as being associated with organized crime was shown by a comprehensive study of Italian American culture on film, conducted from 1996 to 2001 by the Italic Institute of America.[195] The findings showed that over two-thirds of the more than 2,000 films studied portray Italian Americans in a negative light. Further, close to 300 movies featuring Italian Americans as criminals have been produced since The Godfather, an average of nine per year.[212] According to the Italic Institute of America:
- The mass media has consistently ignored five centuries of Italian American history, and has elevated what was never more than a minute subculture to the dominant Italian American culture.[213]
In actuality, according to recent FBI statistics,[214] Italian American organized crime members and associates number approximately 3,000; and, given an Italian American population estimated to be approximately 18 million, the study concludes that only one in 6,000 is active in organized crime (0.007% of Italian-Americans).[205]
Communities
The New York-based daily newspaper Il Progresso Italo-Americano had a national audience and reflected the views of the leadership of the community. It was published 1880–1988.[217]
New York City
New York City is home to the largest Italian-American population in the country and the second-largest Italian population outside of Italy. Several Little Italy enclaves exist in
Bensonhurst used to be heavily Italian-American, and it used to be considered the main "Little Italy" of Brooklyn. Since the late 1990s, most Italians have moved to Staten Island. The Italian-speaking community remains over 20,000 strong, according to the
During the beginning of the Cold War, immigration into the United States from Italy was almost impossible. The American government did not want foreigners entering during an intense period of history, especially those immigrating to New York City. Americas were frightened that these immigrants could be terrorists, thus preventing Italians from gaining citizenship. As the Cold War continued, organization groups such as the Italian American Organization and the American Committee on Italian Migration (ACIM) started to form. They created vast efforts to provide assistance and aid to Italian immigrants coming into the United States. Throughout the Cold War, these organizations increased rapidly with many American Italian members as well as many new coming Italians. ACIM also took a leading role in directing the efforts of other Italian American and Catholic organizations that helped contribute to Italian immigration. These organizations provided new migrants with housing, clothing, access to job interviews, and education for children. Italians already living in America volunteered by making house visits to those immigrants who have just settled down in their new homes. These house visits made the intense and rigorous migration journey easier while allowing the Italian American community within New York City to grow. Immediately after the Cold War period, Italian Americans further consolidated and solidified their status as members of the American mainstream.[225]
Philadelphia
Philadelphia's Italian American community is the second-largest in the United States. Italian Americans compose 21% of South Philadelphia's 163,000 people, and the area has numerous Italian stores and restaurants. Philadelphia is well known for its Italian Market in South Philadelphia. The Italian Market is the popular name for the South 9th Street Curb Market, an area of Philadelphia featuring many grocery shops, cafes, restaurants, bakeries, cheese shops, and butcher shops, many with an Italian influence. The "outdoor" market features bright, colorful metal awnings that cover the sidewalks where vendors of fruit, vegetables, fish, and housewares conduct business year round. Ground floor shops in traditional Philadelphia rowhouses line the street. Owners originally lived above their shops, and many still do.
South Philadelphia has produced many well-known Italian American popular singers and musicians, including: Tony Mottola (famous for the "Tony Mottola" or "Danger" Chord), Frankie Avalon, Bobby Rydell, Mario Lanza, Al Martino, Jim Croce, Fabian Forte, Joey DeFrancesco, Buddy DeFranco, Fred Diodati (lead singer of The Four Aces), Buddy Greco, Charlie Ventura, Eddie Lang, Joe Venuti, Mark Valentino and Vinnie Paz, Vincent "Jimmy Saunders" LaSpada.
Boston
The
Newark
In its heyday,
Chicago
The neighborhood around Chicago's Taylor Street has been called the
Italian Americans dominated the inner core of the Hull House neighborhood, 1890s–1930s.[229] One of the first newspaper articles about Hull House (Chicago Tribune, May 19, 1890) is an invitation, written in Italian, to the residents of the Hull House neighborhood signed, "Le Signorine, Jane Addams and Ellen Starr".
The 1924 historic picture, Meet the "Hull House Kids", was taken by Wallace K. Kirkland Sr., one of the Hull House directors. It served as a poster for Jane Addams and the Hull House Settlement House. All twenty kids were first generation Italian Americans...all with vowels at the end of their names.
As suburbs grew in the post-World War II era, Chicago's Italian American population spread from the central city, such as to
Northwest of Chicago, the city of Rockford has a large population of Italian Americans. Other historical Italian American communities in Illinois include Peoria, Ottawa, Herrin, Quad Cities and the Metro East suburbs of Saint Louis, Missouri.
Milwaukee
Italians first came to
St. Louis
Italian immigrants from the northern Italian region of Lombardy came to St. Louis in the late 19th century and settled in the region called The Hill. As the city grew, immigrants from Southern Italy settled in a different neighborhood north of Downtown St Louis. Professional baseball players Joe Garagiola and his boyhood friend, Yogi Berra, grew up on The Hill. Americans of Italian descent in St. Louis have contributed to local cuisine, i.e. Imo's Pizza and toasted ravioli. As of 2021 there are approximately 2,000 native born Italians living in St. Louis, few of whom live in The Hill neighborhood. Italians today live mostly throughout the St. Louis metropolitan region. The Italian Community of St. Louis (Comunita' Italiana di St. Louis), an organization which promotes the Italian language and culture, has several popular events which include Carnevale[231] which occurs every February and Ferragosto which occurs each August. The St. Louis Italian Language Program also exists on the Hill at Gateway Science Academy on Fyler Avenue.[232]
Los Angeles
Los Angeles is home to the largest Italian American community in California (and on the West Coast), with 95,300 people identifying as Italian American.
San Francisco
According to the 1940 census, 18.5% of all European immigrants were Italian, the largest in the city. North Beach is San Francisco's Little Italy, and has historically been home to a large Italian American population. The American Planning Association (APA) has named North Beach as one of ten 'Great Neighborhoods in America'.[236]
Detroit
The first ethnic Italian in Detroit was Alphonse Tonty (Italian name: Alfonso Tonti), a Frenchman with an Italian immigrant father. He was the second-in-command of Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac, who established Detroit in 1701. Tonti's child, born in 1703, was the first ethnic European child born in Detroit. Tonti became the commander of the Detroit fort after Cadillac left to return to France.
In order to preserve the fur trade, the French administrators and the British administrators discouraged immigration, so the Italian population had slow growth. Growth in immigration increased after Detroit became a part of the United States and the Erie Canal had been constructed. Armando Delicato, author of Italians in Detroit, wrote that Italian immigration to Detroit "lagged behind other cities in the East".
In 1904 the City of Detroit had 900 Italians. In Metro Detroit there were several thousand ethnic Italians by 1900. The concentrations of the population lived in Eastern Market and east of the area presently known as Greektown. Of those Italians in 1900 most originated from Genoa, Lombardy, and Sicily. Some Italians stayed in Detroit temporarily before traveling onwards to mines in northern Michigan.
The increase in the automobile industry resulted in the increase of the Italian population in the 20th century. By 1925, the number of Italians in the City of Detroit increased to 42,000. The historical center of Detroit's Italian-American community was in an area along Gratiot Avenue, east of Downtown Detroit. During that period, Italian immigrants and their children lived throughout the City of Detroit, and several neighborhoods had concentrations of Italian immigrants. There were larger numbers of southern Italians than those from the north. Armando Delicato, author of Italians in Detroit, wrote that "Unlike many other American cities, no region of Italy was totally dominant in this area". Steve Babson, author of Working Detroit: The Making of a Union Town, wrote that "Many northern Italians, coming from an urban and industrialized society, had little in common with local Sicilians, who came from the rural and clannish south." In Detroit's history, within the crafts Italians concentrated on tileworking.
During World War II, Fort Wayne (Detroit) served as home to Italian prisoners of war (POWs) captured during the North African campaign. After Italy's surrender in September 1943, the POWs were given the opportunity to work as servants, cooks, and janitors. At the end of the war many chose to remain and settle in Detroit.
As of 1951, Detroit had about 150,000 Italians.
The
Cleveland
Cleveland's Little Italy, also known as Murray Hill, is the epicenter of Italian culture in Northeast Ohio, a combined statistical area reporting 285,000 (9.9%)[237] Italian Americans.[238] Little Italy took root when Joseph Carabelli, immigrating in 1880, saw the opportunity for monument work in Cleveland's Lake View Cemetery and established what soon became the city's leading marble and granite works. Most fresco and mosaic work in Cleveland was accomplished by Italian artist immigrants.[239] Local Cleveland industrial billionaire John D. Rockefeller took a special liking to the Italian immigrants of the neighborhood and commissioned the building of the community center Alta House, named after his daughter Alta Rockefeller Prentice, in 1900. In 1906, Italian immigrant Angelo Vitantonio invented the first hand-crank pasta machine, which made pasta much easier to produce by eliminating the need to flatten and cut it by hand.[240] Some other famous Italian Americans from Northeast Ohio included Anthony J. Celebrezze (49th Mayor of Cleveland), Ettore "Hector" Boiardi (Chef Boyardee), Frank Battisti (Federal Judge), and Dean Martin, born Dino Paul Crocetti in Steubenville, Ohio.
Ohio's largest outdoor Italian American street festival, the Feast of the Assumption (Festa dell'assunzione), takes place the weekend of August 15 every year and draws over 100,000 people to the Little Italy neighborhood.[241] The festival is sponsored by the congregation of Holy Rosary Church, which was founded in 1892 with the current church built in 1905.
Kansas City
Attracted by employment in its growing railroad and meat packing industries, Italians primarily from Calabria and Sicily immigrated to Kansas City in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Kansas City's Calabrese mainly passed through the port of New York, sometimes stopping in industrial cities like Pittsburgh along the way, en route to their final destination in the Midwest. Meanwhile, Kansas City's Sicilian community generally came through the port of New Orleans, staying there for a decade or more before bringing their families north. In Kansas City, these communities settled close to one another, often overlapping: the Sicilians taking root in what is now known as the River Market and Columbus Park neighborhoods, and the Calabrese mainly settling in the adjacent "Old Northeast" area.
New Orleans
Economics in Louisiana and Sicily combined to bring about what became known as the Great Migration of thousands of Sicilians. The end of the Civil War allowed the freed men the choice to stay or to go, many chose to leave for higher paying jobs, which in turn led to a perceived scarcity of labor resources for the planters. Northern Italy enjoyed the fruits of modern industrialization, while southern Italy and Sicily suffered destitute conditions under the system of absentee landowners. The peasant was still essentially the serf in the system. Emigration not only offered peasants a chance to move beyond subsistence living, it also offered them a chance to pursue their own dreams of proprietorship as farmers or other business owners. On March 17, 1866, the Louisiana Bureau of Immigration was formed and planters began to look to Sicily as a possible solution to their labor needs. Steamship companies advertisements were very effective in recruiting potential workers. Three steamships per month were running between New Orleans and Sicily by September 1881 at a cost of only forty dollars per person.
In 1890 the ethnic Irish chief of police,
Syracuse
Italian immigrants first came to the area around
Providence
Federal Hill in Providence, Rhode Island, is best known for its Italian American community and abundance of restaurants. The first two decades of the 20th century witnessed heavy Italian American immigration into Federal Hill. Though the area today is more diverse, Federal Hill still retains its status as the traditional center for the city's Italian American community. The neighborhood features a huge square dedicated to Giuseppe Garibaldi, a monumental gateway arch decorated with La Pigna sculpture (a traditional Italian symbol of welcome, abundance, and quality) and a DePasquale Plaza used for outdoor dining. Providence's annual Columbus Day parade marches down Atwells Avenue.
Tampa-Ybor City
The community of
Birmingham
Birmingham, Alabama, was representative of smaller industrial centers. Most Italians in the early 20th century came to work in the burgeoning iron and coal industries. Dorothy L. Crim founded the Ensley Community House in the Italian district in 1912 at the behest of the Birmingham City Mission Board. From 1912 to 1969, Ensley House eased the often difficult transition to American life by providing direct assistance such as youth programs and day care services, social clubs, and 'Americanization' programs.[250]
San Diego
Historically,
West Virginia
Tens of thousands of Italians came to
Arkansas
There was a historical trend of immigration of Italians into the U.S. state of Arkansas in the 19th and 20th centuries.
Italians later moved from the Arkansas Delta to the Ozarks, establishing Tontitown.[254]
Baltimore
Italians began to settle in Baltimore during the late 1800s. Some Italian immigrants came to the Port of Baltimore by boat. The earliest Italian settlers in Baltimore were sailors from Genoa, the capital city of the Italian region of Liguria, who arrived during the 1840s and 1850s. Later immigrants came from Naples, Abruzzo, Cefalù, and Palermo. These immigrants created the monument to Christopher Columbus in Druid Hill Park.[255] Many other Italians came by train after entering the country through New York City's Ellis Island. Italian immigrants who arrived by train would enter the city through the President Street Station. Because of this, Italians largely settled in a nearby neighborhood that is now known as Little Italy.
Little Italy comprises 6 blocks bounded by Pratt Street to the North, the Inner Harbor to the South, Eden Street to the East, and President Street to the West. Other neighborhoods where large numbers of Italians settled include Lexington, Belair-Edison, and Cross Street. Many settled along Lombard Street, which was named after the Italian town of Guardia Lombardi. The Italian community, overwhelmingly Roman Catholic, established a number of Italian American parishes such as St. Leo's Church and Our Lady of Pompeii Church. The Our Lady of Pompeii Church holds the annual Highlandtown Wine Festival, which celebrates Italian-American culture and benefits the Highlandtown community association.[256]
The August 2016 Central Italy earthquake affected Baltimore's Italian community, as many Baltimore Italian-Americans have friends or relatives living in Italy. Most Italians in Baltimore are of Southern or Central Italian descent, especially from Abruzzo, a region of Southern Italy close to the epicenter of the earthquake. St. Leo the Great Catholic Church in Little Italy held a vigil and sent prayers to the victims and survivors of the earthquake.[257]
Mississippi
Italians have settled in the state of Mississippi since colonial times, although numbers have increased over the years. Since the 18th and mainly the 19th century, Italian settlers have been located in cities and towns across Mississippi. In 1554, Mississippi began to have a real Italian presence, because of the Hernando de Soto expedition. The first Italians who visited Mississippi came in explorations conducted by the French and Spanish governments.
In the 19th century, many Italians entered the United States in
The late 19th century saw the arrival of larger numbers of Italian immigrants who left Italy seeking economic opportunities. Some Italians from Sicily settled as families along the Mississippi Gulf Coast in Biloxi, Ocean Springs, and Gulfport, preserving close ties with those in their homeland. They worked in the fishing and canning industries. Others were merchants, operating grocery stores, liquor stores, and tobacco shops. Biloxi's prosperous tourist industry in the early 20th century created opportunities for ambitious young (Italian) men ... Italians also settled in the Mississippi Delta. The first immigrants came there in the 1880s, working to repair levees and staying as hired farm laborers on plantations. Some of these families became peddlers selling goods to farmers. In 1895, the first Italians came to the Sunnyside Plantation
Denver
Large numbers of Italians first came to Colorado in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Some settled in industrial Pueblo or in Welby, which was then a farming community, but the largest Italian community in twentieth century Colorado was in Northwest Denver, or as it was known at the time, "the North Side" or "North Denver."[260]
Italians first put down roots there because St. Patrick's Catholic Church, a largely Irish-descended congregation, already existed in the neighborhood. In 1894, the Italian community on the North Side formed its own Catholic church called Our Lady of Mt. Carmel.[260] The community remained strong through the early twentieth century, but in the decades after World War II, many Italian-Americans left Denver proper. Today, descendants of the old North Side Italian-American community are spread across metro Denver, particularly in its inner northwestern suburbs like Wheat Ridge, Westminster and Arvada.[261] The Sons of Italy's Denver-area lodge is on 32nd Avenue in Wheat Ridge.[262] Many Italian Americans without deep roots in Colorado have also settled in the Denver area and other parts of the state throughout the last decades of the twentieth century and in the new millennium.
Reminders of the old Italian community in Northwest Denver are few and far between today. Many of the remaining landmarks are on 38th Avenue. One is Gaetano's, a storied Italian American eatery on 38th Avenue and Tejon Street once owned by the
Our Lady of Mt. Carmel is still important to some Italian-American families with roots in Northwest Denver, but there are Catholic churches with sizable Italian-American populations spread throughout the Denver area today.
Las Vegas
There is a significant Italian American community in Las Vegas.[266]
Demographics
In the
In 2010, the American Community Survey enumerated Americans reporting Italian ancestry at nearly 17.6 million, 5.8% of the U.S. population; in 2015, 17.3 million, 5.5% of the population. A decade thereafter, in 2020, the U.S. Census Bureau recorded slightly more than 16.5 million Americans reporting full or partial Italian ancestry, about 5.1% of the U.S. population.[269][2][3] As ancestry is self-reported, the decline in Italian identification in the 21st century may merely reflect growing Americanization and cultural assimilation of Italian Americans into the broader identity of White Americans, with younger generations increasingly intermixed with other European Americans: the number of Americans who reported being solely of Italian ancestry alone fell by 928,044—from 7,183,882 in 2010 to 6,652,806 in 2015 to 5,724,762 in 2020.[270][271][272] However, by contrast, the number of Americans who reported being of Italian ancestry mixed with another ancestry grew by 436,334—from 10,387,926 in 2010 to 10,632,691 in 2015 to 10,824,260 in 2020.[273][274][275]
U.S. states number and percentage Italian American in 2020[276][269][277][278]
State | Number | Percentage |
---|---|---|
Alabama | 78,547 | 1.61% |
Alaska | 20,629 | 2.80% |
Arizona | 297,383 | 4.15% |
Arkansas | 44,534 | 1.48% |
California | 1,414,190 | 3.59% |
Colorado | 275,803 | 4.85% |
Connecticut | 590,721 | 16.54% |
Delaware | 81,036 | 8.37% |
District of Columbia | 27,731 | 3.95% |
Florida | 1,222,217 | 5.76% |
Georgia | 234,113 | 2.23% |
Hawaii | 30,019 | 2.11% |
Idaho | 54,112 | 3.08% |
Illinois | 726,216 | 5.71% |
Indiana | 180,628 | 2.70% |
Iowa | 63,176 | 2.01% |
Kansas | 62,266 | 2.14% |
Kentucky | 90,775 | 2.03% |
Louisiana | 200,407 | 4.30% |
Maine | 76,133 | 5.68% |
Maryland | 291,816 | 4.83% |
Massachusetts | 825,642 | 12.01% |
Michigan | 452,303 | 4.53% |
Minnesota | 124,817 | 2.23% |
Mississippi | 53,122 | 1.78% |
Missouri | 204,254 | 3.34% |
Montana | 38,075 | 3.59% |
Nebraska | 49,349 | 2.57% |
Nevada | 158,170 | 5.22% |
New Hampshire | 137,322 | 10.13% |
New Jersey | 1,353,075 | 15.23% |
New Mexico | 46,352 | 2.21% |
New York | 2,320,549 | 11.89% |
North Carolina | 334,430 | 3.20% |
North Dakota | 8,767 | 1.15% |
Ohio | 715,494 | 6.13% |
Oklahoma | 69,023 | 1.75% |
Oregon | 154,010 | 3.69% |
Pennsylvania | 1,430,006 | 11.18% |
Rhode Island | 172,852 | 16.34% |
South Carolina | 153,895 | 3.02% |
South Dakota | 10,732 | 1.22% |
Tennessee | 152,739 | 2.26% |
Texas | 523,680 | 1.83% |
Utah | 86,754 | 2.75% |
Vermont | 45,447 | 7.28% |
Virginia | 332,213 | 3.90% |
Washington | 255,671 | 3.40% |
West Virginia | 77,548 | 4.29% |
Wisconsin | 200,205 | 3.45% |
Wyoming | 18,338 | 3.15% |
United States | 16,549,022 | 5.07% |
U.S. states with over 10% people of Italian ancestry
- Rhode Island 18.9%[279]
- Connecticut 18.7%[280]
- New Jersey 16.8%[281]
- New York 15.93%[282]
- Massachusetts 13.9%[283]
- Pennsylvania 12.2%[284]
- New Hampshire 10.7%[285]
- Delaware 10.1%[285]
U.S. communities with the most residents of Italian ancestry
The top 20 U.S. communities with the highest percentage of people claiming Italian ancestry are:[286]
- Fairfield, New Jersey 50.3%
- Johnston, Rhode Island 49.5%
- North Branford, Connecticut 43.9%
- East Haven, Connecticut 43.6%
- Hammonton, New Jersey 43.2%
- Ocean Gate, New Jersey 42.6%
- East Hanover, New Jersey 41.3%
- North Haven, Connecticut 41.2%
- Cedar Grove, New Jersey 40.8%
- Wood-Ridge, New Jersey 40.6%
- North Providence, Rhode Island 38.9%
- Dunmore, Pennsylvania 38.9%
- Newfield, New Jersey 38.8%
- Saugus, Massachusetts 38.5%
- Jenkins, Pennsylvania38.4%
- West Pittston, Pennsylvania 37.9%
- Old Forge, Pennsylvania 37.8%
- Lowellville, Ohio 37.5%
- Hughestown, Pennsylvania 37.5%
- Prospect, Connecticut 37.5%
U.S. places named for Italian Americans
- Busti, New York (Town and village name)
Notable people
See also
- Sicilian Americans
- List of Italian-American neighborhoods
- Little Italys in the United States
- History of Italians in Baltimore
- History of Italian Americans in Boston
- History of Italian Americans in Metro Detroit
- History of Italians in Mississippi
- Italians in New Orleans
- Italians in New York City
- History of Italian Americans in Philadelphia
- Utah Italians
- Tontitown, Arkansas
- Valdese, North Carolina
- List of Italian-American actors
- List of Italian Americans in sports
- Order Sons of Italy in America
- Italian-American cuisine
- American Mafia
- Italy–USA Foundation, based in Rome
- Italy–United States relations,
- Italian diaspora, worldwide
- Anti-Italianism, worldwide
- Italophilia
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- Vecoli, Rudolph J. "The Formation of Chicago's" Little Italies"." Journal of American Ethnic History 2.2 (1983): 5-20. online
- Veronesi, Gene. Italian Americans and Their Communities of Cleveland (1977) Ohio city; online
- Whyte, William Foote. Street Corner Society: The Social Structure of an Italian Slum (University of
Chicago Press, 1943) focus on gangs in "Cornerville" (Boston's North End).
- Yans-McLaughlin, Virginia. Family and Community: Italian Immigrants in Buffalo, 1880–1930. (1982) online.
Memory and historiography
- Agnoletto, Stefano. "Ethnicity Versus Structural Factors in North American History: The Case Study of the Italian Economic Niches." Studia Migracyjne-Przeglad Polonijny 40.1 (151) (2014): 161–181. online
- Alba, Richard D. "The twilight of ethnicity among Americans of European ancestry: The case of Italians." in Celebrating 40 Years of Ethnic and Racial Studies (Routledge, 2019). 50-74. online
- Alba, Richard D. Italian Americans: Into the twilight of ethnicity (2023) online.
- Bushman, Claudia L. America discovers Columbus: how an Italian explorer became an American hero (1992) online
- Cannistraro, Philip, and Richard Juliani, ed. Italian-Americans: The Search for a Usable Past. (The American Italian Historical Association, 1989).
- Cordasco, Francesco. Italians in the United States : an annotated bibliography of doctoral dissertations completed at American universities, with a handlist of selected published bibliographies, related reference materials, and guide books for Italian emigrants (1981) online
- Cordasco, Francesco. Italian Americans : a guide to information sources (Gale 1978) online
- D'acierno, Pellegrino. "Cinema Paradiso: The Italian American Presence in American Cinema." in The Italian American Heritage (Routledge, 2021). 563-690. abstract
- Friedman-Kasaba, Kathie. Memories of migration: Gender, ethnicity, and work in the lives of Jewish and Italian women in New York, 1870-1924 (State University of New York Press, 2012).
- Gabaccia, Donna. "Italian American Women: A Review Essay," Italian Americana 12#1 (1993): 38–61.
- Gabaccia, Donna R. "Italian Immigrant Women in Comparative Perspective." The Review of Italian American Studies (2000): 391-405 online.
- Gardaphe, Fred. L. The Art of Reading Italian Americana, New York: Bordighera Press, 2011.
- Gardaphe, Fred L. Leaving Little Italy: Essaying Italian American Culture (SUNY Press, 2003).
- Giordano, Paolo A. and Anthony Julian Tamburri, eds. "Beyond the Margin: Essays on Italian Americana" (1998).
- Gravano, Alan J., and Alexandra de Luise. "The Italian American Studies Association at Fifty-Five: 1966–2021." Diasporic Italy 1 (2021): 103-123. online
- Hobbie, Margaret. Italian American Material Culture: A Directory of Collections, Sites, and Festivals in the United States and Canada (1992).
- Kosta, Ervin B. "Becoming Italian, becoming American: Ethnic affinity as a strategy of boundary making." Ethnic and Racial Studies 42.5 (2019): 801-819.
- Krase, Jerome, ed. The Status of Interpretation in Italian American Studies (Forum Italicum, (2011) online[permanent dead link].
- Luconi, Stefano, "Is Italian-American History an Account of the Immigrant Experience with the Politics Left Out? Some Thoughts on the Political Historiography about Italian Americans", in Italian Americans in the Third Millennium: Social Histories and Cultural Representations, ed. Paolo A. Giordano and Anthony Julian Tamburri, 55–72. (New York: American Italian Historical Association, 2009).d=103874809
- Luconi, Stefano. "Whiteness and Ethnicity in Italian-American Historiography." in The Status of Interpretation in Italian American Studies: Proceedings of the first Forum in Italian American Criticism [FIAC] (Forum Italicum Publishing, 2011). Online[dead link]
- Meyer, Gerald. "Theorizing Italian American History: The Search for an Historiographical Paradigm." in The Status of Interpretation in Italian American Studies (2011): 164+. Online[dead link]
- Ottanelli, Fraser M. " 'Mussolini's Column': Fascist Memorials and the Politics of Italian American Identity in Chicago." Italian American Review 12.1 (2022): 86–107.
- Pozzetta, George E. "From Immigrants to Ethnics: The State of Italian-American Historiography." Journal of American Ethnic History 9#1 (1989): 67–95. Online
- Rossi, Guido. "Il progresso Italo-Americano and its portrayal of Italian-American Servicemen (1941-1945)." Nuova Rivista Storica (2023), 107#2 pp. 759–787.
- Simms, Norman. "The Italian-American Image During the Twentieth Century." The Histories 5.1 (2019): 4+ online
- Tamburri, Anthony Julian, Paolo A. Giordano, Fred L. Gardaphé, eds. From the Margin: Writings in Italian Americana (2000, 2nd ed.)
- Tamburri, Anthony Julian. To Hyphenate or not to Hyphenate: the Italian/American Writer: Or, An "Other" American? (1991)
- Tamburri, Anthony Julian. Re-viewing Italian Americana: Generalities and Specificities on Cinema (2011)
- Tamburri, Anthony Julian. Re-reading Italian Americana: Specificities and Generalities on Literature and Criticism (2014)
- Wirth, Christa. Memories of Belonging: Descendants of Italian Migrants to the United States, 1884-Present (Brill, 2015) online review
Primary sources
- Albright, Carol Bonomo, and Christine Palamidessi Moore, eds. American Woman, Italian Style: Italian Americana's Best Writings on Women (Fordham Univ Press, 2011) online.
- Bonomo Albright, Carol and Joanna Clapps Herman, eds. Wild Dreams (Fordham Press, 2008). Stories, memoirs, poems by and about Italian Americans. online
- Ciongoli, A. Kenneth, and Jay Parini, eds. Beyond The Godfather: Italian American Writers on the Real Italian American Experience (University Press of New England, 1997) online
- Gesualdi, Louis J. ed. The Italian/American Experience: A Collection of Writings (2012) online
- Moquin, Wayne, ed. A Documentary History of Italian Americans (1974) online
External links
- La Gazzetta Italiana - The Italian American Voice
- Italian American Digital Project Archived March 14, 2015, at the Wayback Machine
- National Italian American Foundation
- "Immigration -> Italian." Library of Congress.
- "Italian Immigration." Digital History, University of Houston
- Italian American Museum, New York Archived August 18, 2019, at the Wayback Machine
- Italy Revisited (photo archives)
- Taylor Street Archives
- ItalianImmigrants.org 1855 through 1900
- "Italian". Chicago Foreign Language Press Survey. Chicago Public Library Omnibus Project of the Works Progress Administration of Illinois. 1942 – via Newberry Library. (Selected short newspaper articles, translated into English, 1855–1938).
- The Italian Americans Archived June 29, 2019, at the Wayback Machine - PBS documentary
- "Italian American Stereotypes in U.S. Advertising" (PDF). The Order Sons of Italy in America. 2003. Archived from the original (PDF) on January 26, 2016.
- Cannato, Vincent J. (October 9, 2015). "How America became Italian". ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved October 6, 2020.
- Immigration History Research Center (IHRC), University of Minnesota